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“You’re so lucky.” She sighs, barely brushing me again. “I would have given anything to be able to take lessons.”

Luckyis a word I’ve never used to talk about my training but hearing her say it and knowing what kind of house she comes from strikes a different chord.

“You wanted to learn piano?”

“I wanted to doanything.” She tries to laugh but clears her throat when the sound dies prematurely. “The violin fascinated me more than anything. Sometimes, when my dad threw parties, he’d hire a violinist. I remember falling asleep thinking they sounded so pretty. I wanted to make something that sounded like that. Thatfeltlike that.”

“You can still learn. You’re young, Delilah.”

“With what money?” She forces a watery laugh. “Besides, I don’t think my brain can handle learning something like that at this age. I can barely remember my GED subjects…” I wait for her to elaborate, but she shakes her head. “Anyway, I just don’t think I can. I’ll always love hearing it though.”

For a while, we sit in silence, me studying her profile while she studies the keys. Wonder plays over her features, and I don’t think it’s a look I’ll ever forget. Every time mymind tries to flash back to what I saw on that tape, I anchor myself here by following the sound of her voice.

She asks me question after question and I answer them, realizing it’s the first time a conversation between us hasn’t ended in five minutes.

Raking a hand through her hair, she drowns me in a cloud of my favorite scent and faces me again. “What else can you play?”

“What do you want to hear, menace?”

Lips pursed, she tilts her head. “Surprise me.”

So, I play the song I learned twenty years ago. When I was a teenager and the only thing on my mind was getting good grades and watching anime in my free time.

A minute into “Merry-Go-Round of Life,” I’m back in the theater, watchingHowl’s Moving Castlefor the first time. I was so fucking naive and optimistic about what life had in store for me. But at least I got to experience it. Had Delilah ever been to the movies? This song could mean nothing to her, but it’s a part of me so I play it for a second time without pausing for her reaction.

When I’m done, the weight on my shoulder pulls my gaze away from the instrument and to the brown tresses in my peripheral.

“Damn, I put you to sleep, menace?” An uneven laugh escapes as more pride tries to swell in the hollow I had before she walked in here.

Of all the ways I thought this day would end, none of them led me here. Because the same woman who tried to send my world up in flames this morning is sleeping on my shoulder now.

Time slows until every second feels like a minute. Then her head lolls, sailing toward the keys. I stop it, using nothing except my palm to catch and cradle her head.

She doesn’t wake up, her soft snores continuing like nothing happened and I cock my head to watch her freely.

After pulling the glasses off her nose, I tuck them into the front of my shirt. I can’t help it, so I smile at the contented look on her face.

My head dips on its own, chasing that closeness I didn’t know I needed until she showed up.

The only thing I know right now is that I’ll do anything for this woman. Without question. Everything except let her go.

I can’t let her go until I know every man that fucked with her is in the ground. Her brother is at the top of that list, but something tells me that the more I watch those tapes, the more people will find themselves on the wrong end of my Beretta.

Gathering her in my hold, I stand and use my foot to push the bench out of my way.

Delilah’s arms snake around my neck on instinct and she melts into me like she’s done it before. Shehas. Just never awake.

Upstairs, Titus is sleeping in front of her open door. Stepping over him, I get Delilah back in bed and stare at her until a minute morphs into ten.

My fingers move the hair from her face, smoothing over her soft skin before I pick up the abandoned bonnet on her pillow and pull it back over her head.

“What am I gonna do with you, menace?”

Finally, I unclip her glasses from my shirt and set them on her nightstand next to her phone.

On the way out, I pull out my phone to text Alonzo.

Me: Her dad arranged a marriage for her?